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GERAGOS & GERAGOS' MARK GERAGOS
The Recorder
Feb 9 2015
Marisa Kendall, The Recorder
Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos, perhaps best known for defending
celebrities including Michael Jackson and Chris Brown, recently
set his sights on the online real estate site Zillow Inc. His firm,
Geragos & Geragos, filed six employment suits in less than a month,
accusing the company of "shocking" sexual harassment and other labor
violations. Zillow has denied the claims. Geragos said he's been
shifting his practice to include more civil litigation on behalf of
individuals fighting powerful interests. Among his new civil clients:
singer Kesha in a suit accusing her former producer of abuse and rape.
Q: What sparked the Zillow lawsuits?
A: We often receive cold calls from a variety of prospective clients.
In this case there was a rash of Zillow employees who called
complaining about a really disturbing corporate culture. We were
presented with compelling evidence of serious corporate wrongdoing. I
credit [co-counsel] Bobby Samini at Samini Scheinberg for flagging
much of this outrageous conduct.
Q: How did the subsequent allegations come to light?
A: Once we filed the initial class action complaint and whistleblower
action, we received dozens of calls from other current and former
employees who were making the identical complaints.
Q: What was going through your mind as the cases piled up?
A: It really brought home in stark relief the reasons why I shifted
my practice to doing more plaintiffs' work instead of solely criminal
defense. Criminal defense lawyers are used to holding the government
accountable for systemic violations of the liberties of the accused
who have a disproportionate amount of power. Here you have individuals
who are taken advantage of by corporations in the worst ways possible
and they deserve a passionate voice.
Q: What is the legal strategy behind hitting Zillow with multiple
suits in such a short amount of time?
A: Our firm handles class and mass actions against corporate
defendants, so these types of actions are fairly common for the firm.
Q: How many more Zillow suits can we expect?
A: We received dozens of phone calls from individuals who shared
horrific claims of discrimination, labor law abuses and other corporate
cover-ups. Stay tuned.
Q: How much of your work is representing plaintiffs in class actions,
rather than criminal defense work?
A: Over the last couple of years we have tried more civil than criminal
cases. However, we are pretty even balanced in our casel oad between
civil and criminal clients.
We represent consumers in class actions, we handle multi-district
litigation cases and individual as well as corporate plaintiffs. We
have represented nonprofits against "Big Pharma" and had eight-figure
jury verdicts.
Q: What are some of the differences between representing everyday
plaintiffs, such as Zillow employees, and celebrity clients?
A: Ironically, the celebrity cases we spend more time fending off the
media and trying to damp down the coverage, where just the opposite
may be true in a case that cries out for public scrutiny.
Q: Were you expecting the Zillow suits to generate this much publicity?
A:The wrongs committed against the Zillow plaintiffs resonated
throughout the country--not just among those employed there, but
in other workplaces. One article on the case highlighted how the
tech world started off with such lofty ambitions as the workplace
environment, but that in many cases they ended up being worse than a
traditional corporate workplace. The attention brought to the case
was organic and developed mostly through blogs and others sharing
similar work place abuses.
Q: Publicity can be a double-edged sword, as evidenced by the
defamation lawsuit music producer Dr. Luke recently filed, claiming you
accused him of sexually assaulting Lady Gaga. What was your reaction
to that suit?
A:It doesn't surprise me. The defendant and his lawyers have
retaliated against Kesha by suing her, her mother, her manager and
now her lawyer. To paraphrase former Clinton-era Attorney General
Webb Hubbell during the Whitewater case, they can sue her cat but
that won't detract from what we are going to do. Which in this case
is hold him accountable.
Q: What do you do when you're not litigating?
A: I have very few hobbies but enjoy working out every morning. I
am passionate about the Armenian Cause and most of my free time is
devoted to that.
http://www.therecorder.com/litigation-news/id=1202716948811/Geragos-amp-Geragos-Mark-Geragos?mcode=1202619415937&curindex=0
The Recorder
Feb 9 2015
Marisa Kendall, The Recorder
Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos, perhaps best known for defending
celebrities including Michael Jackson and Chris Brown, recently
set his sights on the online real estate site Zillow Inc. His firm,
Geragos & Geragos, filed six employment suits in less than a month,
accusing the company of "shocking" sexual harassment and other labor
violations. Zillow has denied the claims. Geragos said he's been
shifting his practice to include more civil litigation on behalf of
individuals fighting powerful interests. Among his new civil clients:
singer Kesha in a suit accusing her former producer of abuse and rape.
Q: What sparked the Zillow lawsuits?
A: We often receive cold calls from a variety of prospective clients.
In this case there was a rash of Zillow employees who called
complaining about a really disturbing corporate culture. We were
presented with compelling evidence of serious corporate wrongdoing. I
credit [co-counsel] Bobby Samini at Samini Scheinberg for flagging
much of this outrageous conduct.
Q: How did the subsequent allegations come to light?
A: Once we filed the initial class action complaint and whistleblower
action, we received dozens of calls from other current and former
employees who were making the identical complaints.
Q: What was going through your mind as the cases piled up?
A: It really brought home in stark relief the reasons why I shifted
my practice to doing more plaintiffs' work instead of solely criminal
defense. Criminal defense lawyers are used to holding the government
accountable for systemic violations of the liberties of the accused
who have a disproportionate amount of power. Here you have individuals
who are taken advantage of by corporations in the worst ways possible
and they deserve a passionate voice.
Q: What is the legal strategy behind hitting Zillow with multiple
suits in such a short amount of time?
A: Our firm handles class and mass actions against corporate
defendants, so these types of actions are fairly common for the firm.
Q: How many more Zillow suits can we expect?
A: We received dozens of phone calls from individuals who shared
horrific claims of discrimination, labor law abuses and other corporate
cover-ups. Stay tuned.
Q: How much of your work is representing plaintiffs in class actions,
rather than criminal defense work?
A: Over the last couple of years we have tried more civil than criminal
cases. However, we are pretty even balanced in our casel oad between
civil and criminal clients.
We represent consumers in class actions, we handle multi-district
litigation cases and individual as well as corporate plaintiffs. We
have represented nonprofits against "Big Pharma" and had eight-figure
jury verdicts.
Q: What are some of the differences between representing everyday
plaintiffs, such as Zillow employees, and celebrity clients?
A: Ironically, the celebrity cases we spend more time fending off the
media and trying to damp down the coverage, where just the opposite
may be true in a case that cries out for public scrutiny.
Q: Were you expecting the Zillow suits to generate this much publicity?
A:The wrongs committed against the Zillow plaintiffs resonated
throughout the country--not just among those employed there, but
in other workplaces. One article on the case highlighted how the
tech world started off with such lofty ambitions as the workplace
environment, but that in many cases they ended up being worse than a
traditional corporate workplace. The attention brought to the case
was organic and developed mostly through blogs and others sharing
similar work place abuses.
Q: Publicity can be a double-edged sword, as evidenced by the
defamation lawsuit music producer Dr. Luke recently filed, claiming you
accused him of sexually assaulting Lady Gaga. What was your reaction
to that suit?
A:It doesn't surprise me. The defendant and his lawyers have
retaliated against Kesha by suing her, her mother, her manager and
now her lawyer. To paraphrase former Clinton-era Attorney General
Webb Hubbell during the Whitewater case, they can sue her cat but
that won't detract from what we are going to do. Which in this case
is hold him accountable.
Q: What do you do when you're not litigating?
A: I have very few hobbies but enjoy working out every morning. I
am passionate about the Armenian Cause and most of my free time is
devoted to that.
http://www.therecorder.com/litigation-news/id=1202716948811/Geragos-amp-Geragos-Mark-Geragos?mcode=1202619415937&curindex=0